The Gaming Month Ahead – January 2015

Happy New Year! (Unless you’re reading this on the 31st of December, in which case skip that and start here) I often start a year, comparing January’s releases with the previous years lot. It always initially looks like things are getting worse, but after drawing up the release list, it becomes quickly apparent that there is still a heck of a lot coming out.
As always, I’m still stuffed with far too many steam and psn sale games, but there’s still a lot of things this month demanding attention. First off lets have a quick run down of the ports and remasters (as is quickly becoming tradition) Saint’s Row IV: Re-elected, Resident Evil REmake, GTA V, Duke Nuken 3D and Way of the Samurai 4 all come onto various current gen hardware – all with the obligatory bells and whistles. Resident Evil is worth special mention as it was exclusive to Nintendo platforms before this. It’s a fantastic remake of the original and worth playing for any lovers of the classic feel Resident Evil.

Dying Light, Techland’s attempt to refine the Dead Island formula comes out towards the end of the month. It looks pretty, and had some decent free running going on. I never managed to get a hands on at EGX, but it proved quite popular with most people. It’s probably worth hanging on and reading some reviews before splashing out on it.
Dontnod’s work after Remember Me, comes in the form of episodic time-buggery title, Life is Strange. It’s possibly best described as Gone Home meets The Walking Dead with time travel. It certainly looks more Telltale-esque than the action of Remember Me, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing considering how interesting the memory remix sections of Remember Me were. As with most Season based games, you can pick up the single episode or get the whole season of five episodes at discount. If you’re uncertain about it go for the single, you only save the price of a single episode anyway.

Also – as well as the Saint’s Row 4 port to current gen hardware, a spin-off expansion comes out this month in the form of Saints Row: Gat out of Hell – following series favourite Johnny Gat and Kinzie Kensington as they try to save the President from hell. It’s more of the same, but perhaps with enough new powers and objectives to warrant the budget priced entry fee.